Intranodal roadm fiber management apparatuses, systems, and methods

Abstract

An intranodal reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer (ROADM) fiber management apparatus, and a system employing the apparatus. The apparatus comprises a plurality of ingress optical ports, a plurality of egress optical ports, and a plurality of optical interconnections interposed between ones of the plurality of ingress optical ports and ones of the plurality of egress optical ports. Each of the plurality of ingress optical ports corresponds to one of the plurality of egress optical ports. Each one of the plurality of ingress optical ports is optically coupled by way of the optical interconnections to at least one of the plurality of egress optical ports. Each one of the plurality of egress optical ports is optically coupled by way of the optical interconnections to at least one of the plurality of ingress optical ports.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A N-degree system, comprising:
 a line degree subsystem, the line degree subsystem including N line degree modules;   a plurality of transceivers; and   an add/drop subsystem interposed between the line degree subsystem and the plurality of transceivers, the add/drop subsystem including a plurality of subsystem modules,
 wherein each of the N line degree modules selects wavelengths received from at least one of the subsystem modules and outputs the selected wavelengths to an egress path, and receives at least one wavelength from an ingress path and outputs the at least one wavelength to at least one of the plurality of subsystem modules. 
   
     
     
         22 . The N-degree system of  claim 21 , wherein the transceivers are local transponders. 
     
     
         23 . The N-degree system of  claim 21 , wherein each of the N line degree modules includes one of a broadcast-and-select line degree module or a route-and-select line degree module. 
     
     
         24 . The N-degree system of  claim 23 , wherein the broadcast-and-select line degree module includes:
 a wavelength selective switch arranged to select wavelengths received from at least one of the subsystem modules;   an output amplifier arranged to amplify wavelengths selected by the wavelength selective switch and to provide amplified wavelengths to the egress path;   
       an input amplifier arranged to amplify the at least one wavelength received from the ingress path;
 a broadcast splitter arranged to receive the at least one wavelength amplified by the input amplifier, and to output the at least one wavelength amplified by the input amplifier to at least one of the plurality of subsystem modules. 
 
     
     
         25 . The N-degree system of  claim 21 ,
 wherein the at least one wavelength includes a plurality of wavelengths, and   wherein each of the N line degree modules outputs one of the plurality of wavelengths to an output, and selects the one of the plurality of wavelengths output by the output of another one of the N line degree modules.   
     
     
         26 . The N-degree system of  claim 21 , wherein each of the subsystem modules includes a waveguide module. 
     
     
         27 . The N-degree system of  claim 21 , wherein at least some of the subsystem modules include:
 a plurality of inputs, each of the plurality of inputs being coupled to an output of a corresponding one of the plurality of transceivers, and   at least one output coupled to a corresponding input of a corresponding one of the N line degree modules.   
     
     
         28 . The N-degree system of  claim 27 , wherein at least some others of the subsystem modules include:
 at least one input coupled to a corresponding output of a corresponding one of the N line degree modules; and   
       a plurality of outputs, each of the plurality of outputs being coupled to an input of a corresponding one of the plurality of transceivers. 
     
     
         29 . The N-degree system of  claim 28 , wherein the corresponding one of the plurality of transceivers is a local transponder arranged to drop a wavelength received at the input of the transceiver, and to add a wavelength received from a local source. 
     
     
         30 . The N-degree system of  claim 21 , wherein the N-degree system is colored and directional. 
     
     
         31 . The N-degree system of  claim 21 , wherein one of the plurality of subsystem modules includes a directionless switch module and another one of the plurality of subsystem modules includes a colorless fan-out module. 
     
     
         32 . The N-degree system of  claim 31 , wherein at least one of the plurality of subsystem modules comprises a directionless switch module coupled to at least one of the N line degree modules, and a colorless fan-out module interposed between the directionless switch module and the plurality of transceivers. 
     
     
         33 . The N-degree system of  claim 32 , wherein the colorless fan-out module comprises:
 a first coupling module having an output coupled to an input of the directionless module, and a plurality of inputs, each of the plurality of inputs being coupled to an output of a corresponding one of the plurality of transceivers, and   a second coupling module having an input coupled an output of the directionless module, and also having a plurality of outputs, each of which is coupled to an input of a corresponding one of the transceivers.   
     
     
         34 . The N-degree system of  claim 33 , wherein the directionless module comprises;
 a third coupling module having a plurality of inputs, at least one of which is coupled to the output of the first coupling module, and also having an output;   a wavelength selective switch arranged to select wavelengths received from the output of the third coupling module and provide selected wavelengths to the line degree subsystem;   a first amplifier interposed between the output of the third coupling module and the wavelength selective switch;   a fourth coupling module having a plurality of outputs, at least one of which is coupled to the input of the second coupling module, and also having an input;   a routing device arranged to receive wavelengths from the line degree subsystem and provide at least some of the received wavelengths to an output of the routing device; and   a second amplifier interposed between the output of the routing device and the input of the fourth coupling module.   
     
     
         35 . The N-degree system of  claim 21 , wherein the line degree subsystem is colorless, directionless, and contentionless. 
     
     
         36 . The N-degree system of  claim 35 , wherein each of the N line degree modules includes one of (1) an erbium doped fiber amplifier and a multicast switch or (2) a low port count module. 
     
     
         37 . The N-degree system of  claim 21 , wherein the at least one wavelength from the ingress path includes a plurality of wavelengths, and wherein each of the N line degree modules comprises:
 a route wavelength selective switch arranged to select one or more of the plurality of wavelengths received from the ingress path, and to output the one or more of the plurality of wavelengths to the at least one of the plurality of subsystem modules; and
 a select wavelength selective switch arranged to select the wavelengths received from the at least one of the subsystem modules, and to output the selected wavelengths to the egress path. 
   
     
     
         38 . The N-degree system of  claim 37 , wherein the add/drop subsystem includes a plurality of multicast switches. 
     
     
         39 . The N-degree system of  claim 38 , wherein the add/drop subsystem also includes an amplifier array interposed between the plurality of multicast switches and the line degree subsystem. 
     
     
         40 . The N-degree system of  claim 21 , further comprising one of a fiber shuffle or fiber paths interposed between the line degree subsystem and the add/drop subsystem. 
     
     
         41 . The N-degree system of  claim 21 , wherein the egress path comprises a plurality of egress ports, and the ingress path comprises a plurality of ingress ports, and wherein the N-degree system selectively couples a wavelength received at any of the plurality of ingress ports to any of the plurality of egress ports. 
     
     
         42 . The N-degree system of  claim 21 , wherein the N line degree modules each include at least one expansion route-and-select line degree module. 
     
     
         43 . The N-degree system of  claim 40 , wherein the fiber shuffle is an expansion shuffle having at least one of a star topology, a mesh topology, or a combination of a star and mesh topology.